2 things:

1. Please tell me you have WEP or some form of authentication! If not, I'm going drive up to canada, park a block away from your place and commence hacking of the IRS from your Internet connection. When the feds come knockin' on your door, don't say I didn't warn ya!!

2. WTF is your sig?! I didn't slave over a luke-warm PC all night for nothing, you know!!!

 

do a search on yahoo for

dell coupon codes, if you order you may just find a coupon for an additional 50.00 off.

 

What's this WEP you speak of?
Is this some protection in case someone drive by my house, hooks up to my wireless internet connection, and leaves me with a liability?

I don't have it now because we don't live near a lot of people but was planning on getting something after we move.

I was just going to call one of those computer geeks to make a service call and set it up.

Regards

 

WEP info

This is what WEP is, but don't use it if you are going to be in a well populated area, because it literally takes about 20 minutes to crack it. WEP is really not a very secure method of securing wireless. The new standard WPA is a better one, but I hear it has bugs too.

Some wireless gateways or routers have MAC filtering functionality. This is pretty good considering that it only allows NICs with the correct MAC address to access your connection. Still not completely bullet proof though.

Seriously, unless you plan to run a full blown VPN over wireless with 128 encryption or better, there isn't a bullet proof way to secure wireless networking.

The biggest risk with using wireless is someone intercepting your sensitive data either being sent to the internet, or stored on your computer. Yes it is possible for someone to park outside your house with a wireless notebook and connect to your computer if it is on wireless network. They can get access to anything and everything on your computer. Even if they don't actually connect to your computer, they can still easily "sniff" the traffic you are broadcasting right out of the air. They can read your email, grab credit card numbers, and view all your activity while you are online.

If you don't do anything online that would compromise your privacy, such as credit card info, sensitive email, etc., the only thing you have to worry about is someone using your connection for malicious intent.

This can be a problem, but you can always shut down your wireless router when you are not using it. That will minimize that risk.

But ultimately, IMHO, you're much better off just plugging it in. Wireless is a real risk and if you don't know what you are doing, you can get burned really easy.

Sorry to hijack the thread, I just wanted to lay down a bit of info.


Ox

 

Well, congrats!! I understood about ¼ of what you stated in your specs but it sounds impressive to me. Of course just about anything would since I'm using a 4½ year old POS HP that makes me angry enough some days to want to toss it out the window. Really wouldn't be very effective since "out the window" is about ground level cuz our computer room is in the basement. Anywho, hope you like your Dell...Dude, you're gettin a Dell...just had to throw that in!!

 

Blue-Ox,

Thanks for a well written, informative post.
Here is my situation, and if you or any other knowledgeable experts can point me in the right direction, that would be very much appreciated.

We are moving into the middle of a high density, highly populated subdivision.
Neighbors are everywhere, and high schools and shopping are half a mile away.

I currently use the LINK-SYS(sp) wireless router, but I still have the old wired router stored away in the closet.
The wireless is mainly for the laptop, which I find I rarely use at home anymore, so really, the wireless network I am running is rarely getting used.

Is it possible to use both routers?
The wired one for the 2 desktops, and the wireless one only for the laptop on the rare occasion I want to go wireless at home, you know, by the pool or whatever.

If this is not possible (easily) I will revert back to the wired router at the new place and just use the 50 foot Ethernet cable when needed.

Regards

 

Can I buy a better battery after the fact, or am I just going to have to pinch it off or run an extension cord to the bathroom?

 

Habibi,

No problem, glad to help.

Now for your question, yes it is probably possible, however I would not do it. The problem is that they are both routers. I don't know much about wireless routers, but I am guessing that it is a NAT router. Your other router is probably a NAT as well. 2 NATs together start to get confusing.

Long story short, has to do with your level of technical ability making them both work together. I am confusing myself just sitting here trying to think of how to make it work. Typically you don't put two routers together inline. It is possible, but not common.

I know there is probably a way to do it, but I am not comfortable trying to think it out without having them both here to "tinker" with them.

In your situation, I would suggest putting the Wireless Router up for sale on EBay and go pick up a Wireless Hub. This way you can just plug the Hub into one of your available "Wired" router ports whenever you want wireless, and unplug it whenever you don't.

This seems to be the quickest and easiest way to achieve what you are wanting: Permanent connection for your desktops and occasional wireless access for you laptop.

Hope this helps,


Ox

 

fwiw, I have a Dell Latitude that's at least 4 years old that's been through hell and back and still has no problems. For the most part, those things are bulletproof.

Good choice!

 

The root cause is the CPU & chipset. A high-capacity battery will help, but you'll still be needing that outlet! You should be able to add a 2nd battery in your CD bay and almost double your battery life. The downside? No CD!

BlueOx - Good info. EXCEPT for this comment:That's a crock. Home users should ALWAYS use WEP (or WPA if they have it). It doesn't take 20 minutes to crack.... WEP is 'relatively' easy to crack assuming you can gather enough packets to crack the key. How many packets do you need normally? A LOT. About 7GB, yes GIGABYTES, worth of data to crack. Now, even if Habibi has a multiple T1 or frac DS3 in his home and is downloading **** at MAX capacity of his WLAN, it's still gonna take about FOUR hours to gather enought data to crack the key. As a light home users, its gonna take weeks/months to gather the data to crack the key....

... now that we all know this, along with the fact that at LEAST 40% of WLANs are NOT encrypted... why would anyone waste their time on Habibi's place when they can drive a few miles and jump on someone else's WAP?

Habibi, WEP your WAP!! I may not know much about other things, but network security is my business.

 

dzervit,

Thanks for the clarification. I over-dramatisized the 20 min comment a bit, but my basic point was how easy it is to crack a WEP key. Network Security is my business as well, but wireless is one of the few areas I am not on the up and up.

I did write a very long and extensive paper on WEP last year for school and am basing my experience on that alone.

So to rephrase my point, yes WEP is better than nothing at all, but there are better solutions out there that aren't as shaky.

Sorry for the confusion,


Ox

Edit: I forgot to mention that the reason I said don't use it in a well populated was because your neighbors close by would have ample time to sit and try to crack your WEP key. Would they try to? Probably not, but in an apartment situation like I am, I don't really know my neighbors too well, so i wouldn't want to take the risk.

 

Well you guys, I must say thank you to both for bringing the matter to my attention.
If you guys didn't bring it up, I most likely would've "gotten round to it" at a much later date, and who knows, maybe after it was too late.
So in any event, thanks!

TuffFord, HAHAHA!
You know you've finally "made it" when you are pinching a loaf and surfing Ebay at the same time on your pimpin wireless notebook.
Yes sir! "life is good baby!!

 

Cheers Ox! Always good to have a fellow Ford drivin' Infosec person on the board!

Its funny, in the business world I shy away from WEP like fat people to a diet, but in the home world its complete different set of requirements. WEP is easy and effective for a home user. Odds are they'll never get hacked with WEP, unless someone really doesn't like them and lives close enough to constantly monitor the WLAN to gather packets. MAC filtering is a good idea for home users, but most folks give you the look when you bring that up. Gotta keep it simple for those wacky home users...

 

I totally agree!! I spend 99% of my online time in a business environment, so I tend to think on that side.

I wanted to mention MAC filtering, because I know that it is easy to set up on my equipment at home. Out of all the methods, this one is the easiest to do, but you do get a lot of crosseyed looks when you mention it.

One more thing about WEP, the best way to protect yourself is to change your IV Key frequently. This is the inherent weakness in WEP and you will greatly increase your security by changing it often.

Jeez I sound paranoid, don't I?


Ox

 

What the?? What did you call me boy? Better watch your step! I may be nuts, but wacky??